What jihadist fighters in the Middle East do in their spare time

A
militant Islamist fighter uses a mobile to film his fellow
fighters taking part in a military parade along the streets of
Syria's northern Raqqa province, June 30,
2014.REUTERS/Stringer

Most of what's reported about jihadist fighters in terrorist
groups like ISIS and Al Qaeda focuses on their military
activities, and it's not often that we get a look behind the
scenes at other aspect of these communities.

And Shadi Hamid, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and
a Middle East expert, tweeted that
the transcript is one of the best things he's read in months.

Hegghammer called downtime activities that knit jihadi
communities together "one of the last major, unexplored frontiers
of terrorism research" that could "shed important new light on
how extremists think and behave."

"I found no support for the claim you sometimes hear about
jihadists being hypocritical opportunists who don’t really care
about religion. Some of them may have been unobservant before
they join, but once they’re in, they seem very meticulous about
observance."

This is supported by ISIS members' active presence on social
media. Members discuss religious practices and make frequent
references to Allah.

They also talk about day-to-day life in the "caliphate," the
swath of territory ISIS (also known as the Islamic State, ISIL,
and Daesh) controls in Iraq and Syria.

Reuters

Female ISIS members
seem to be especially active in discussing their downtime
activities. They travel to the caliphate to wed fighters and
produce children that ISIS is attempting to raise as the next
generation of militants.

The women of ISIS discuss their pets, shopping, cooking, driving,
and doing household chores like laundry.

These tweets should be taken with a large grain of salt
considering ISIS' extensive propaganda strategy that lures people
to the caliphate by painting an unrealistic and overly rosy
picture of what life is like there. But Hegghammer also found
examples of some of these recreational activities in his
research.

"We see a broad range of practices I would call recreational
(since they’re elective and aesthetics or entertainment)," he
said.

Ahlam al-Nasr, a Syrian-born 20-something, has earned the title
of "Poetess
of the Islamic State" and is known to write using themes of
radicalization, terrorist recruitment, and the glorification of
violence.

In her poems, al-Nasr has celebrated ISIS victories by praising
the "lions" whose "fierce struggle" has "brought liberation" to
cities in the Middle East. She has also written about the
struggles of living amid violence and constant upheaval, noting
in one poem that bullets in Syria have "shattered our brains like
an earthquake."

Osama bin Laden, the deceased leader of Al Qaeda, was also a
known jihadi poet. His poems discussed jihadi themes of struggle
and political duty.

An Al
Qaeda "job application" that was recently declassified even
asks how their recruits like to spend their free time. Applicants
are required to list "hobbies and pastimes" on the form.

ISIS differentiates itself from other terrorist groups, like Al
Qaeda, by marketing itself as an Islamic utopia that can provide
happiness and stability to its residents, giving outside
observers a rare look into how militants spend their free time.

Ultimately, jihadi communities seem to share some of the same
characteristics as less extreme societies.

"Military life is about much more than fighting," Hegghammer
said.

"Look inside any militant group — or conventional army for that
matter — and you will see lots of artistic products and social
practices that serve no obvious military purpose. Think of the
cadence calls of the U.S. Marines, the songs of leftist
revolutionaries, or the tattoos of neo-nazis.

"Look inside jihadi groups and you’ll see bearded men with
kalashnikovs reciting poetry, discussing dreams, and weeping on a
regular basis."